Bengaluru: India’s State of Play, a new report released by MIXI Global Investments (MGI), highlights the continued evolution of India’s mobile gaming industry, projecting that the country’s combined in-app purchase (IAP) and advertising revenue will grow from approximately $1.1 billion in 2025 to $1.5 billion in 2026, before reaching $2.4 billion by 2029.
Authored by Naavik, powered by Sensor Tower, and supported by AppsFlyer, India’s State of Play finds that India’s gaming market is entering a new phase of maturity, marked by rising player spending, broader genre adoption, and an increasingly diverse player base.
According to India’s State of Play, India’s mobile gaming ecosystem is transitioning from one driven primarily by scale to one increasingly defined by monetization.
Between 2020 and 2025, in-app purchase (IAP) revenue more than doubled, while download volumes remained broadly stable.
The report notes that this trend reflects a market where one of the world’s largest gaming audiences is beginning to spend more within games rather than simply expanding in user numbers.
India continues to rank among the world’s largest gaming markets by player volume. India’s State of Play estimates the country now has approximately 600 million active players, representing a 9% year-over-year increase, while recording nearly 8 billion mobile game installs in 2025, second only to China in download volume.
The report attributes the changing market dynamics to deeper smartphone penetration, expanding digital payment adoption, and an aging gaming audience.
Together, these factors are helping increase spending per user, bringing India’s monetization closer to the scale of its long-established player base.
Growth Expands Beyond Shooter Games
One of the major findings in India’s State of Play is that revenue growth is becoming increasingly diversified across gaming genres.
Shooter games continue to dominate India’s in-app spending, accounting for approximately 43% of total IAP revenue. Titles including Free Fire MAX and Battlegrounds Mobile India remain market leaders in revenue generation.
However, newer categories are driving much of the industry’s growth. Strategy games, particularly the 4X subgenre, recorded 77% year-over-year growth, while MOBA titles more than tripled their revenue during the period.
Card battler games expanded by over 90%, while geolocation-based games emerged as the fastest-growing genre in 2025 with 75% revenue growth, supported by localized live operations.
Simulation games also recorded significant momentum, driven largely by Roblox’s strong performance during the year.
The report concludes that India’s gaming revenue is no longer dependent on a single category but is expanding across multiple genres.
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India’s Gaming Audience Is Becoming More Diverse
India’s State of Play also highlights changing demographics within India’s gaming audience.
Although the overall gaming population continues to skew younger and male, female participation is increasing across several genres.
Puzzle games now attract nearly 45% female players, while lifestyle games are approaching gender parity. Puzzle titles also have an older player base, with more than half of users aged 35 years and above.
The report states that these trends indicate future market growth will increasingly come from demographic segments that have historically been underrepresented in India’s gaming ecosystem.
Tomoharu Urabe, Managing Director, Investment at MIXI Global Investments, said: “India has been one of the world’s largest gaming audiences for some time, but what the data now shows is a market maturing with revenue deepening, growth spreading across genres, and a widening range of players. That combination of scale and diversification is what makes this moment worth watching.”
Local Games Continue to Outperform on Reach
According to India’s State of Play, culturally relevant gaming experiences continue to outperform many international franchises in terms of reach.
Games such as Ludo King and Cricket League lead India’s download rankings, while Indian developers produced five of the ten most-downloaded games of 2025.
The report notes that international publishers are achieving success in India through localized adaptations, including India-specific game versions optimized for lower-end smartphones, regional live events, and local esports initiatives.
Meanwhile, Indian-developed titles such as ScarFall 2.0 are demonstrating higher production quality aimed specifically at domestic audiences.
Developer Ecosystem Continues to Expand
Beyond consumer trends, India’s State of Play highlights the continued growth of India’s game development ecosystem.
The report estimates that the country now has more than 2,000 game development companies, collectively employing over 130,000 professionals.
It also examines adjacent digital entertainment segments, including microdramas, where India has become the world’s largest market by download volume.
The report concludes that India’s gaming ecosystem is evolving through stronger monetization, broader genre participation, increasing demographic diversity, localized content strategies, and continued expansion of its developer community.
